Sinners star Wunmi Mosaku wins BAFTA as One Battle After Another tops ceremony
Wunmi Mosaku said she was "really shocked" after winning a Bafta for her role in sinners, and One Battle After Another swept major prizes at the film awards on a night of surprises and emotional speeches.
Sinners supporting actress wins and speaks of ancestral power
Wunmi Mosaku, 39, accepted the best supporting actress prize for her performance as Hoodoo priestess Annie in the musical horror film. Mosaku said she found parts of herself she "thought I had lost or tried to dim as an immigrant trying to fit in, " and described finding "a part of my hopes, my ancestral power and connection. " She added that seeing "the response of black women feeling seen, loved, valued, treasured, and the power of our ancestry and the spirituality" made her feel less lonely and gave her a sudden kinship with women she had never met.
One Battle After Another takes best film
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another won the night’s top prize, defeating Hamnet and Sinners for best film. Sara Murphy accepted the award and paid tribute to Adam Somner. Anderson spoke on stage, told those who say films aren’t good to "piss off, " and begged to go to a bar, marking a raucous moment as the ceremony closed.
Sean Penn collects first BAFTA for One Battle After Another
Sean Penn was crowned Best Supporting Actor for his role as Steven J. Lockjaw in One Battle After Another. Penn was not in London to collect the award; the prize marked a third-time-lucky moment after his earlier nominations in 2003 for Mystic River and 21 Grams and in 2008 for Milk. One Battle After Another had been nominated for a total of 14 BAFTAs.
Shock best actor and Jessie Buckley’s win for Hamnet
Robert Aramayo produced one of the night’s biggest shocks when he was named best actor for I Swear; he fought back tears and was left speechless during his acceptance. Jessie Buckley won best actress for Hamnet, a result described as less surprising, with Cillian Murphy on stage to present the award and the crowd reacting enthusiastically to the evening’s surprises.
Ceremony moments, hosts and broadcast details
The awards were hosted by Alan Cumming. The ceremony aired on BBC1 in the UK at 7 p. m. local time and on E! at 8 p. m. ET in the U. S. Observers noted a strange tone to the evening: some segments ran long and much of the show came in a montage, while a man with Tourette syndrome shouted a swearword at Paddington Bear during the live proceedings.
Sinners’ wider impact and Mosaku’s past work
Mosaku, who moved with her family from the historic Nigerian city of Zaria to Manchester when she was a one-year-old, was the first black British winner of the supporting actress category at the Bafta film awards. She said she was "really shocked" when she won, adding, "I was like, 'That can't be right'. I was really shocked and I lost my breath and couldn't quite believe it. " Pregnant at the time of her victory, she thanked her daughter, calling her "my greatest teacher. " Mosaku has appeared in Luther, Black Mirror and Marvel movies and has been tipped for an Oscar for her portrayal of Annie. The Sinners screenplay also won a Bafta for best original screenplay, and Jack O'Connell received praise for his role in the film. Mosaku recalled being inspired to act after watching the musical Annie every day after school, searching online for the film’s cast and learning that Albert Finney trained at Rada.
Mosaku’s film award follows a previous Bafta success nine years earlier when she won the same category at the TV Baftas for Damilola, Our Loved Boy, a drama about the death of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor, who was stabbed while walking home from a library in London. Reflecting on that earlier work, she said in 2016 that she grew up on an estate in Manchester where people she knew from school had died in gang trouble and thought, "If I'd been on a different estate at a different time, it could have been me. "
As the ceremony wrapped, commentators noted one of the biggest surprises of the night and late, emotional wins. More coverage, including a backstage gallery by Sarah Lee, was promised in the next few hours.
